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Pinus coulteri



Pinus coulteri - Coulter pine, Bigcone pine, Pitch pine
  • Pinus coulteri - Coulter pine, Bigcone pine, Pitch pine - Click to enlarge
  • Pinus coulteri cones - Click to enlarge
  • Pinus coulteri leaves - Click to enlarge

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Weight3 kg
Height20 - 25 cm
PropagationGraft
RootstockPinus ponderosa

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Scientific name: Pinus coulteri  D.Don  1837

Synonyms: Pinus coulteri var. diabloensis Lemmon, Pinus macrocarpa Lindl., Pinus ponderosa subsp. coulteri (D.Don) A.E.Murray 

Common names: Coulter pine, Bigcone pine, Pitch pine

 

Description

Tree to 20(-25) m tall, with trunk to 0.8(-1) m in diameter. Bark dark brown to dark grayish brown, with interlacing vertical ridges divided by deep, darker furrows. Crown broadly conical, with numerous long, slender, gently upwardly arching branches, turning up and densely clothed with foliage at the tips. Twigs stout, reddish brown beneath a bluish white coating of wax, roughened by the bases of scale leaves. Buds 1.5-3(-4) cm long, resinous. Needles in bundles of three, each needle (15-)20-30 cm long, stiff and straight, lasting 3-4 years, light grayish green. Individual needles with obvious white lines of stomates on all three faces, a two-stranded midvein, and 2-10 resin canals around the midvein deep within the leaf tissue. Sheath 2-4 cm long, persisting and falling with the bundle. Pollen cones 20-25 mm long, dark yellowish brown. Seed cones 20-30(-35) cm long, egg-shaped, massive, with 120-140 seed scales, yellowish green before maturity, ripening yellowish brown to light brown, opening widely to release the seeds but then sometimes persisting several years before falling, leaving behind a few basal seed scales on the thick, persistent stalk to 3 cm long. Seed scales very thick and woody, diamond-shaped, the exposed portion forming a thick, protruding, triangular boss continuing into the long, heavy, curved, clawlike umbo. Seed body (10-)12-18(-22) mm long, uniformly dark brown, the easily detachable wing 18-30 mm long.

The species name honors the Irish Botanist and physician Thomas Coulter (1793-1843), who collected the type specimen in the Santa Lucia Mountains of California in 1831.

Scattered from west-central California to northern Baja California. Most commonly mixed with lower montane and woodland trees and chaparral shrubs on dry sites in foothills and mountains; (300-)900-1,800(-2,150) m. The climate is of a Mediterranean type with winter rain and long, hot and dry summers.

 

Conservation Status

Red List Category & Criteria: Near Threatened

Pinus coulteri has a limited area of occupancy. It may also be adversely affected by fire management policies. Although there are no data to quantify a rate of decline in the past or present, it is inferred that continuous and/or increased suppression of forest fires will in the long term lead to such a decline. It is therefore appropriate to flag this species as Near Threatened, while closer monitoring is required.

In California, Coulter pine is prominent in the southern California Mixed Conifer Forest, especially at the lower limit of this forest type, where it merges into fire-prone chaparral. In Baja California it is also a tree of mixed chaparral, together with Quercus chrysolepis, or growing on granite boulder formations around Laguna Juárez. Its altitudinal range is from 300 m to 2,100 m a.s.l. (in Mexico 1,200-2,150 m). It is most commonly found on dry, rocky slopes and ridges, where competition from other trees is minimized.

This fire-adapted and fire-dependent (to some extent) species could be at risk from forest succession leading to dominance of less fire-adapted trees in those (usually urbanized) areas where fires are being prevented or put down. Conversely, too frequent fires could destroy seedlings and saplings before they reach a reproductive age. Thus fire control, if not conducted with the ecology of this species in mind, could work against the long-term survival chances of Pinus coulteri. It is unknown whether this situation has already led to decline of the population.

Coulter pine has no particular commercial value as a timber tree and its seeds, although edible, are not harvested for consumption. It is quite frequently represented in parks and arboreta in southern Europe and the milder parts of the British Isles, and this pine has also been introduced as an amenity tree in Australia and New Zealand. In California it is also planted in parks and large gardens, often in small groups. No cultivars are known of this pine and it is apparently rarely grown and sold by horticultural nurseries. The impressive cones are often collected and displayed as curiosities in private houses as well as schools and other public buildings.

This species occurs in several protected areas. However, a more adequate management of forest fires affecting this species than conducted at present in most areas is required. Research into the effects of fire suppression on regeneration of Coulter pine and competition from other species is required.

 

Cultivars

Pinus coulteri ‘Makkos’  
Pinus coulteri ‘Maria’
Pinus coulteri ‘Sweet’

 

References

  • Farjon, A. (2010). A Handbook of the World's Conifers. Koninklijke Brill, Leiden.
  • Eckenwalder, J.E. (2009) Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference. Timber Press, Portland.
  • IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. Cambridge, UK /Gland, Switzerland

Copyright © Aljos Farjon, James E. Eckenwalder, IUCN, Conifers Garden. All rights reserved.


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